Malaysia’s jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim needs UN and US support, daughter says
A daughter of Malaysia’s jailed former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is pinning her hopes on the United Nations or United States taking up his case.
Anwar was convicted last year of sodomising a male aide and jailed for five years, but his supporters regard the former deputy prime minister as a political prisoner held on trumped up charges.
This week, the elder of his two daughters, Nurul Izzah, was in Washington to meet officials from the White House, State Department and Congress to lobby on her 68-year-old father’s behalf.
“America needs also to understand the impact of allowing such an important voice like Anwar to be silenced just because of political considerations,” Nurul said.
“And I think if we allow this authoritarian regime to hijack the agenda you will only see a worsening situation in terms of extremism.”